Roofing-board



{No Models) S. W. DURHAM.

ROOFING BOARD.

Patented Nov. 19, 1895.

5mm a/zwmm.

RNDREW BfiRANAM. PHOTO-WHO WASIIINGI'ONJI C UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SHILOH f DURHAM, OF BUSHNELL, ILLINOIS.

ROOFING-BOARD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 549,905, dated November 19, 1895. Application filed April 11, 1895. Serial No. 545,319. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:-

Be it known that I, SHrLoH W. DURHAM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bushnell, in the county of McDonough and State of Illinois,-have invented a new and useful Roofing-Board, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to roofing for sheds and similar outhouses, the object in view being to provide a simple and efficient batten for breaking the joint between roofing-boards to prevent leakage, and, furthermore, to provide a joint-breaking batten so constructed as to prevent the splitting thereof by the contraction and Warping of the roofing-boards due to changes of temperature and degrees of moisture.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear in the following description, and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective View of a portion of a roof provided with j ointbreaking battens constructed in accordance with my invention, the roofing-boards having saw-tooth grooved-surfaces. Fig. 2 is atransverse section of the same. Fig. 3is a similar view showing the roofing-boards provided with cross-sectionally semicircular grooves. Fig. 4 is a similar view showing plain-surfaced roofing-boards. Fig. 5 is a similar view showing roofing boards having V shaped grooves. Fig. 6 is a transverse section similar to that shown in Fig. 2, illustrating the relative positions of'the parts when the roofing-boards are contracted and are pulled outward slightly at their edges.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures of the draw- 1I1g'S.

Any preferred construction of roofing-board may be employed in connection with the batten embodying my invention, said roofingboards 1 being provided contiguous to their edges with saw-tooth grooves 2, having perpendicular sides or walls 3 and inclined or angularly-disposed sides or walls 4, which intersect approximately at an angle of fortyfive degrees; I preferably employ two of these grooves adjacent to each lateral edge of a roofing-board to interlock with saw-tooth tongues 5, which are formed on the under surface of the lateral wings 6 of the improved batten 7, said wings combining to form a hood or cap which overlaps the contiguous edges of two roofing-boards and is held in place by nails or similar fastening devices 8, which are driven through the center of the hood and engage a tie or bar 9, forming a member of the roof-frame. The improved batten of which the hood forms onemember also embodies a stem 10, which lies between the contiguous edges of the roofing-boards and bears upon the upper surface of the tie or bar 9, whereby the batten rests firmly upon the roof-frame independently of the roofing-boards and is secured independently thereof to the frame.

By reference to the cross-sectional views of the drawings it will be seen that the tongues 5 of the hood have abrupt or perpendicular outer sides and inclined inner sides to correspond with the cross-sectional construction-of the grooves 2 in the contiguous edges of the roofing-boards, and this arrangement of parts provides for the contraction of the roofingboards without causing the splitting of the batten for the reason'that the contacting inclined surfaces of the interlocking tongues and grooves allow the edges of the roofingboards to be drawn outward under the infiuence of contraction without exerting sufficient lateral strain on the batten to cause breakage. This is illustrated in Fig. 6, in which the roofing-boards are shown in the positions which they assume when contracted and partly drawn from beneath the lateral portions of the hood. A further advantage of this construction resides in the fact that when the roofing-board becomes warped to such an extent as to be useless it may be slipped longitudinally (after the removal of the securing-nails) from beneath the wings of the batten by which it is engaged without removing the battens, and a new roofingboard may be applied in a similar manner.

In Figs. 1 and 2 I have shown a preferred form of roofing-board in which'the saw-tooth grooves are formed throughout the upper or outersurfaces thereof, the grooves inclining in opposite directions from the longitudinal center of each board toward the edges thereof. This construction of roofing-board is preferable for the reason that said surface causes the water in descending the roof to work toward the centers of the boards and thus away from the battens, whereby the latter are relieved to a certain extent from opposing the entrance of the water.

In Fig. 3 I have shown the improvement applied to roofing-boards having cross-seetionally semicircular grooves in their surfaces, in Fig. at to roofing-boards having plain surfaces, and in Fig. 5 to roofing-boards having cross-sectionally V-shaped grooves.

Various changes in the form ,proportion,and the minor details of construction may be .re-.

to rest upon the timbers of the roof-frame, and an integral hood or cap extended laterally beyond both side-surfaces of the stem to overlap the contiguous edges of the roofingboards, and having a roughened under surface to interlock with correspondingly roughened surfaces of the boards, said battens being adapted to be secured to the roof-frame by means extending through the stem between the contiguous edges of the roofing-boards, and the roofing-boards being adapted to be held in place solely by the battens whereby the boards are free to contraetlatera-lly without breaking the joint or ai'feetingthe seeuring devices, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own. 1 have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

SIIILOTI W. DURHAM.

\Vitncsses:

I. 13. SHAW, SoLoN BANFILL. 

